28
Aug
2011
League fines won’t slow Suh down
Detroit isn't about to temper its Superman. (Associated Press)
Ndamukong Suh, who says he wants the Detroit Lions to be feared by opponents — especially quarterbacks — is making significant headway on that front.
The 307-pound defensive tackle threw a punch at Logan Mankins in Saturday’s 34-10 manhandling of the Patriots, and while he missed his target, Suh’s reputation as a dirty player continues to balloon.
Suh’s $20,000 league fine for a hit on Andy Dalton earlier this month is the third docking of his young career. He lost $22,500 last season for hits on Cleveland’s Jake Delhomme and Chicago’s Jay Cutler.
“It’s about having quarterbacks fear us, offensive linemen fear us, every single game we step into,” Suh told CBS Sports on Saturday.
After what he did to Tom Brady‘s offense, don’t expect the Lions to come down on Suh for his aggressive play. It’s been eons since Detroit scared a mouse and they’re not about to mess with Suh’s head.
“No one has ever played like this at defensive tackle,” Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham told NFL.com earlier this month. Sound like someone about to ask the behemoth to tone it down?
Suh plans to appeal the Dalton fine, but it’s more about principle than the money, which amounts to a moving violation for a guy making $40 million guaranteed.
Suh has barely gotten started. Quarterbacks have taken notice. And it’s looking like Detroit’s seemingly thousand-year streak as NFC North pushovers has reached its end.
28
Nov
2010
Week 12 LIVE GAME BLOG
Matty Ice on tap. (Source: New York Times)
We’ll be watching and covering the games all day. If you want to join in the conversation, just use the comments section below.
¶ With Falcons driving, the team announced that Roddy White just became the 12th wide receiver in NFL history to register 80 catches & 1,000 yds receiving in four consecutive seasons.
¶ Falcons’ first drive ends with a field goal. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers waiting in the wings.
¶ Carolina marches right down the field and scores on the Browns in Cleveland. Mike Goodson with a 26-yard scamper for the score. The Browns drive right down the field, with Jake Delhomme going 5 for 7 for 63 yards. Peyton Hillis scores on a 9-yard touchdown run.
¶ The Jags have taken an early 7-3 lead on the Giants — New York, without Hakeem Nicks to bolster a thin wideout lineup, cannot fall behind by much in this game.
MORE AFTER THE JUMP
24
Nov
2010
Wednesday NFL notebook: Redskins’ Portis to IR; High-ankle sprain for Browns’ McCoy
It's that time of year: Turducken time. (Source: AP)
¶ Jason Reid of The Washington Post reports that Redskins running back Clinton Portis has been placed on season-ending injured reserve by the team. Portis has been nagged by a groin injury for weeks, and the team has, in general, been nagged by Portis’ inability to stay healthy. I think we’re seeing his final days in D.C.
¶ Mlive.com is reporting that Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best, battling a toe injury for most of the season, practiced Tuesday and is expected to be ready to go for Thursday’s game against the New England Patriots. Defensive end Cliff Avril, on the mend from a hip injury, practiced and also should play. Not sure it’s enough to topple Brady and the Pats, but the Lions have seen improvements in their passing game, and New England’s defense has issues. I think this game might be closer than some think.
¶ The Tennessee Titans have not barred quarterback Vince Young from the team’s facility following Sunday’s mindmelt, but was asked to leave a team meeting Monday, according to The Tennessean, citing sources familiar with the situation. The newspaper states that Young was “visibly upset,” but left without issue.
Fisher and Young had it out Sunday following the team’s overtime loss to the Titans. As Young walked away, he told Fisher, “I’m not running out on my teammates, I’m running out on you.”
This seals Randy Moss as the NFL’s good-luck charm of the year.
¶ Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports that Eric Mangini told reporters during his Wednesday press conference that rookie quarterback Colt McCoy has a high-ankle sprain. Mangini said it’s different in scope than the sprains suffered by Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace, and that McCoy is determined to get back as quickly as he can.
Mangini said “we’ll see” if McCoy can return this week.
Delhomme will get the majority of reps in Wednesday’s practice, a strong indicator he’ll get the nod against his former team, the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Mangini said he likes Jake’s familiarity with the Panthers in this spot.
Sidenote: What about their familiarity with Jake?
MORE SOON
23
Nov
2010
Tuesday morning NFL notebook
Rivers fits in San Diego as well as Eli Manning ever would have. (Source: Splog.com)
¶ Chargers wide receiver Patrick Crayton dislocated his left wrist in the team’s 35-14 win over the Denver Broncos on Monday night and could miss two weeks, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Crayton, who had three catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, benefited from the return of wideout Malcolm Floyd, who re-tweeked his hamstring, according to the newspaper. Crayton’s set for an MRI today. None of this is good news for the Chargers, trying to distance themselves from the pack in the AFC West with an irritated Colts team on tap Sunday night.
¶ NFL.com’s Adam Rank journeys to the dark side of Philip Rivers’ titanic season — namely, your fantasy team, clinging to a lead heading into Monday, only to watch Rivers carve you up like Thursday’s bird. Rank feels your pain, fantasy owners:
“One week you are Mike Eruzione celebrating the ‘Miracle on Ice’ during the opening credits of the Wide World of Sports,” Rank writes. “The next week you are that anonymous skier wiping out in a blaze of snowy glory.”
¶ Do you think our grandfathers, who fought in wars across the globe to keep us free, would smile proudly on fantasy football? It’s probably harmless, until I take it one step too far and play fantasy businessman — where I sit on the couch and get points for someone else’s productivity and ingenuity. That, sir, would be going too fa… wait, that’s the stock market — and our ancestors invented that thing. OK, we’re good… continue on.
¶ Heading into Week 12, three Browns quarterbacks have generated three wins and three ankle sprains. Eric Mangini won’t say, but possibly three high-ankle sprains (which is the equivalent of a maternity leave in this league). Colt McCoy played most of the second half against the Jaguars on a sprained left ankle that required an MRI exam Monday. Per usual, Mangenius is quiet about who will start Sunday — and this might be the VERY first time in Cleveland that the decision even matters. On the heels of the battered, laborious Quinn vs. Anderson debates — which resulted in NOTHING, zero — the emergence of McCoy is a revelation for Browns fans used to the team’s Week 16 starter being a guy who started the year as a CVS check-out clerk in central New Jersey. With that said, we might see Jake Delhomme face his old team this weekend.
Speaking of the mess in Carolina, coach John Fox hinted at a potential mistake in allowing Delhomme to leave in the offseason.
“Looking back, sitting here at 1-9, I’m not sure how many moves were right,” Fox said Monday. “And that’s not being critical of anybody other than hindsight is always 20-20. But I know Jake is happy where he is. Sometimes change is good. I don’t believe in looking back.”
Not controversial. Fox is just being real about the quarterback mess in his own backyard — something Delhomme likely couldn’t have improved on. Delhomme’s done very little in Cleveland beyond hold a clipboard and nest in the whirlpool with Big Baby.
Before the season, people talked about Fox “writing his own check” for a new coaching job — almost anywhere he wanted. That’s quieted down, but he’s one of the better coaches in the league, despite this season’s Ho Chi Minh trail-like campaign.
30
Aug
2010
VIDEO: Ndomukong Suh tries to decapitate Jake Delhomme
As the #2 overall pick in the draft, Detroit Lions rookie DT Ndomukong Suh is looking to make an impact early in the NFL … specifically, on opposing quarterbacks. And during Saturday’s pre-season tilt with the Cleveland Browns, QB Jake Delhomme was on the receiving end of this vicious facemask/decapitation attempt by Suh:
Yikes. Apparently Suh went to the Sayid Jarrah school of tackling, where the ol’ neck snap is a standard finishing move.
But that kind of stuff isn’t going to fly in the NFL, where Mr. Goodell protects quarterbacks like they’re virgin teenage girls at the Gathering of the Juggalos. So while the Lions can definitely use an injection of bad-assed-ness, they might need to take up a collection to pay Suh’ fines if he’s going to keep going after QB’s like that.
